Brain Food
with founder Steve Rock
Isabella Varno with Director Steve Rock on the set of Insurance
8/7/2023:
Welcome to the Brain Food Blog!
2023 has been an awesome year so far. I have hired a crew, shot what is to date and by far the best production yet to come out of our group, I have met and joined a larger group of local filmmakers that have formed the 501c non profit 518 Film Network, and through that network I was able to give Dead Burger a new life through a screening at their film festival which won it the audience vote award.
I wanna reflect a little on the journey here, and on the path that leads ever forward into the wonderous unknown. I was and always will be proud of Dead Burger, though it was a very long and hard struggle to bring it to the state it is today. There were many things that our group of first time filmmakers with nearly no experience whatsoever were not able to accomplish, which made the movie take on a life of it's own. It is vastly different from the original script, though the self aware with a smile tone and the heart and soul of so many young people volunteering to bring one dream into reality did come through all the same. It took nearly half a decade for it to come together, there were many friendships forged and lost, babies born and friends that passed, and it will always be something of a marker in time for me personally of some of the more formative years of my adult and artistic life. I will always be proud of the work we did manage to get on screen despite all odds, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I would love to take a second shot at it and get the half of the script that never made it infront of a camera done. Someday.
In a similar sense but for vastly different reasons, Gone our sci-fi movie is taking a similar course to Dead Burger in the editing bay. The film was shot during Covid, which made us have to do things drastically different than in any other type of production. We did have some advantages we were able to utilize, and the film was fully shot in a timely manner unlike the multiple attempts over 5 years that Dead Burger had endured. But with restrictions on locations vital to the intended story unavailable at the time we were filming, as well as some restrictions on when we could get certain actors and assets available for shooting days, we are finding that the feature length film we shot may need to be whittled down. We are not sure exactly what the end product will look like, but we have lots of material to work with and there is a lot of awesome work that was done even under such harsh conditions. Still it's always interesting when a film reaches the assembly and editing stage where it can so drastically change as to become unpredictable even to the very people that wrote and shot it. It's one of the magic wonders of this art form.
Lastly, I want to sing the praises that are very deserved to my cast and crew of Insurance. This project has been amazing from start to finish. A short history of how this one came to be. It begins with a sketch comedy idea submitted years ago by one of the original members of our group and Dead Burger actor Dave Wagner. That idea was a good one, and it stuck with me for years, eventually it started to take form as a script. I wrote a feature length version, but looked it over as something for a future project because mainly we would need to build a set, because no one in their right mind would let me install pneumatics in their house by drilling holes through cabinets and walls to run tubing. Then, to my complete shock and delight, a strangely built and creepy looking house in the family became empty, and no one in the family minded letting me use in any way I saw fit. That house however would not accommodate all of the pieces I had written, so I trimmed it down into the project as it was shot today. Spencer Sherry, who is now also a member of the 518 Film Network, had organized a gala to help local artists and to raise funds and find crew for his short film "The Monkey" which was adapted from a Stephen King story. He also let us borrow the actual monkey prop to hide in our fil He called his event Monkey Business, and it was held at The Madison Theater, the same place Dead Burger first got onto a big screen. I attended and was able to meet and eventually hire cinematographer Lakota Ruby-Eck, and actor Ryan Palmer. Their recommendations led to us also hiring sound engineer Conor Grocki, the wonderfully talented actress Isabella Varno, and production assistant Alec Wright, who would join Randy Harlow and I along with some other familiar faces and friends from our previous productions. I gave Lakota a story board, which he turned into a bible, and I'm happy to report that this edit is almost too easy because of the wonderful work of all our people on this project. Never had I had anything long or short come as close to the original idea as this did, and the time spent on set was an absolute pleasure. I cannot say enough about this particular set of humans.
And so as the second half of this year unfolds, with new opportunities on the horizon for projects both new and old, I am so proud and pleased to be at this stage of my career. My heart races with thoughts of the possibilities that lie ahead. For now, all I can do is soldier on and get the work done. Just like any other elephant, you eat it one bite at a time.
Damn the Torpedoes. Full Speed Ahead.
Sincerely,
Stephen Rock
Abomination Films
Good Health, Good Luck, and MORE BLOOD!
Model: Beth Newkirk
Image from Zombie Pin Up Calendar December 2017
12/6/2022:
Welcome to the Brain Food Blog!
It's Christmas Time again! The year is winding down, there's been alot of things going on and alot of changes in 2022. 2023 looks to be a big year for Abomination Films. Multiple releases of projects that a lot of time and effort has gone into.
To wrap up the year, here are some things we accomplished.
Labor Day weekend we wrapped up all photography on Gone with the last couple scenes that COVID protocols had prevented us from shooting. Post production is going as well and we have an extended preview screening at an artists showcase held by RAW: Albany. It's an honor to be able to show our progress!
In September and October I did a little work on my house to prep a workshop and decided I would start recording while I work on things. That has led to the first set of videos on rewiring the Spirit Halloween Ghostbusters Proton Pack I wore to a masquerade held by my local film network in late October. I plan to continue that series as I build things like cabinets that open on their own and bottles that pop their own tops for a ghost project we shoot in January.
New merchandise is available in our store and we plan to shoot a new pinup calendar which was a huge hit at our convention booths in 2017!
We had done a Zombie Pin Up theme to accompany Dead Burger, and this time we've decided to switch it up to Slashers and Victims. When the weather gets warmer we will begin having modeling shoots and we hope you enjoy what we come up with!
In 2023 we expect to release both Gone and Insurance to the film festival scene and make a few convention table visits in the northeast and beyond if we are able. In the meantime, more content than we have ever been able to show before is available and will continue to post for some time. We hope you enjoy taking the journey with us!
Happy Holidays and we hope you all have a great start to 2023!
Sincerely,
Stephen Rock
Abomination Films
Good Health, Good Luck, and MORE BLOOD!
8/17/2022:
Welcome to the Brain Food Blog!
Well, we're approaching the end of summer. Fairs start soon, and then soon after, it'll be apple picking time, and then finally comes the spooky season.
I wanted to share a little sneak peek here at something I have been cooking up as a special surprise for about a year now. I have always been big into Halloween, from elaborate costumes, holding big parties, and even managing haunted attractions, I never find October to be anything less than exciting and fun.
Last year, I lost my last living grandparent, and while we were handling her estate, the duty fell on me to decorate her house and be there for the trick or treaters. That house and neighborhood are where my favorite childhood memories are. The neighbors would put up giant spiders over doorways, have haunted trails leading to smoking bubbling witches cauldrons, and kids everywhere running from house to house. I remember us kids starting with pillowcases and making an adult with us carry a sleeping bag and we just dumped pillowcase after pillowcase into that sleeping bag and bringing home candy hauls that would have made Willy Wonka concerned. I decided if this was the last halloween this house would see in our family, it was gonna be a good one.
I'm not sure what made me go with a ghostbusters theme, but as always I went overboard. I got myself a set of coveralls, all the props I could find, and even decked out my car. At the house I had black white reactive webs in white, green, and purple (for the mood slime) down all the hedges, I had animated ghosts projected in the windows, strobe lights, an inflatable Marshmallow Man, and a Singing Slimer that "flies" along a rope. It had to rain that night of course, but still the kids that came loved it, and I got many compliments. I was very proud.
So proud I took the costume to the Skate Rink I go to, and won their costume contest!
And I made a little film project out of it all in secret, so secret most of my family doesn't know about it. I hope to release it as the first of many annual Halloween videos from all of us here at Abomination Films. Also, we are hoping someday to figure out a way to do a ghostbusters themed fan project with any proceeds going to charity. If there is anyone out there reading this that has experience or a good idea on how to use such a video to fundraise for charity, please reach out to us at AbominationFilms@gmail.com
Until Next Time, Stay Spooky!
Sincerely,
Stephen Rock
Abomination Films
Good Health, Good Luck, and MORE BLOOD!
Photo taken 4/10/2021 of Steve Rock in alien makeup on the set of GONE
4/11/2021:
Welcome to the Brain Food Blog!
How I missed the smell of latex and makeup. How i missed the chaos of a set, a million things to do all at the same time, yet somehow it all gets done and the dust settles. Then to see the magic happen right before your eyes as capable people execute a shared vision and words come off a page and into life. I want to share some of my experiences so far with Gone, and how amazing it has been to have a team of truly dedicated and talented people working in cohesion against all odds and under the circumstance of the COVID 19 pandemic and subsequent worldwide slowdowns.
First, I'll share that we have kept our cast and crew very small up until this point, with 4 of us doing most of the work including the acting, makeup, lighting, sound recording, and filming. It's no small feat and I can't overstate how much i appreciate these people that make it happen and continue to throughout my life and career. The four of us, like so many others, found ourselves either working from home or unemployed by our day jobs. We also had a project that was actively about to start, sets were being built and casting was underway when the pandemic hit freezing that project, The Last Hunt, in it's tracks. We hope to soon circle back to it when the time comes.
We shot a bit as we could in the late summer and fall while maintaining social distance and largely using my home as our set, to keep us as safe as possible. And it was impressive how much we got done for a team of 4 taking on a feature with no budget and few resources at our disposal.
Now we are vaccinating and expanding the cast to fill out the remaining parts and scenes we couldn't shoot in our isolation. Location shoots begin soon as our last phase of production before we go into the edit. So far we have had great luck and made good progress. A trailer was released on Halloween last year with the footage we were able to capture at that point, and we hope you are as excited to see the final project as we are.
Specifically I want to shout out to Crystal "Chibi" Rose who is our lead actress. She is super talented and such a pleasure to work with, no task is too big or small and she has been very brave in our more disturbing scenes. Not only that but she has improved entire scenes, had very great script notes for rewrites, and created art specific to this story, and on top of all that has been very active with makeup and set design. This project would not be possible without her and we are truly blessed to have found her.
All in all, things are progressing well, and I hope you join in on our journey.
As a final note in this blog entry, I decided to leave the previous post up here, I stand by every word, and feel that it is important now more than ever to be transparent in our views. The struggle to make a better tomorrow must never end, and we must all do our part to make a more perfect union. So many problems from injustice to climate change and pollution, and the only way we overcome is together.
Here's to a better tomorrow and a brighter future. Take care until next time!
Sincerely,
Stephen Rock
Abomination Films
Good Health, Good Luck, and MORE BLOOD!
Photo taken 5/29/2020 in Albany NY BLM protest march by Stephen Rock
10/20/2020:
Welcome to the Brain Food Blog!
Recently I made the announcement of our new project and took down the posts on our social media that said "We are still working on a film for 2020 but we find that we feel that right now a message of peace and unity is more important." I didn't take these down because the time for action has passed, but simply that the show must go on.
However here on my website blog I feel I need to address why I march for the cause of equality and justice for all.
First to explain, I don't match up to any political party. I'm something of a mix of both liberal and conservative views. For example I believe states should largely govern themselves, I believe in legal gun rights and find exvessive gun laws to be only harmful to legal ownership and in no way preventing criminals from getting weapons. I believe in equality, LGBTQ+ and women's rights, and that no one should be above the law including those who enforce or legislate it. I wish to see police reform in a way that mirrors what we see in other countries, with more training and education required to become and stay a police officer, body cams that are monitored by both internal police review teams and community oversight committee members, and for officers to be safe from any type of termination or retribution for reporting when their colleagues step out of line. I don't want to see an end to the police force, I have many friends that are officers and I have had both great and not so great experiences with the police, I understand that they are largely just normal people trying to do an uncertain and harrowing job. To want to protect one's community is a noble cause.
I also want to see education programs and community health and outreach programs that help to eliminate the creation of criminals in our youth, as no one grows up wanting to be a criminal. They become one to survive when they feel normal life is not something they have access to.
As a child there were two things I was brought up to believe. That all Americans should have been brought up to believe. Those two things are "We are all created equal" and "Liberty and Justice for All." It's in our highest documents. Here is an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The language is outdated and should be interpreted through a modern lens, just as any of document of significant age should, but the message of equality and freedom is right there. Yet everyday we see that we are not equal under the law, that some are somehow untouchable in their role of law enforcement, and others are strung along and made minor concessions to try to keep them appeased with their unequal situation. It is widespread, it isn't just one marginalized group, it is many. The proof is out there right in front of our faces all the time on every news channels and outside our front doors, and it has been for years. Long before the Floyd protests began, long before the Trump administration took office, long before I was even born.
I don't understand why. To me these ideas, Equality and Justice for All, are not things that should be a red or blue issue. These aren't political issues, they are humanitarian issues. Whether or not to build a road or to make an ordance to leash your dog or to zone a large scale business like a fulfillment center, those are political issues. To dispute whether someone can get married, where they can live, or if they can access healthcare or insurance is not, those are humanitarian issues. The politics shouldn't be involved as if we practiced what the founding fathers wrote, we all would already have these rights regardless of the circumstances of our birth or who we choose to love.
When I was a child, I was under the impression that my country was the greatest and most free, that I could grow up to be anything I wanted, and that was going to be the same for all other kids my age. Then I grew up and see things for how they really are, ugly and disproportionate.
These last few monthsI have been finally speaking out again after trying to change the world at a younger age and finding no traction, so I had given up. I made new signs for the modern day, as a "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" sign would be very strange next to the current ones, and I took to the streets to demand a better tomorrow. I took to my social media to try to help others understand why I am out there and why I am so passionate about making a better world for the kids of today and the generations of tomorrow.
I have been called many ugly things and defended my ideals, which if you live in the USA and you love this country should be yours also, from many people that don't seem to grasp what this is really all about.
I march today for this cause, but I march tomorrow for the next, and the next, and the next, until I see the country I was told was here when I was a child, and later found out it didn’t ever really exist. All I am seeking in this is to take the ideas and the words we should all cherish as Americans and make them reality. All I am asking for is for people to stop hiding their hate in their politics, to stop pushing their agendas for supremacy of any sort, and to start doing the right thing. The decent thing.
But also I must continue my path as an artist, as they say the show must go on. I have one more thing I would like to quote as i sign off on this blog entry. I present some wise words from Toni Morrison.
"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal."
Here's to a better tomorrow. Please take care, be kind, and know that you all matter. What doesn't matter what you look like in the mirror or how you choose to live. There is only one race, the Human race, we just need to get our society and laws to finally reflect it.
Sincerely,
Stephen Rock
Abomination Films
Good Health, Good Luck, and MORE BLOOD!